


"Better The Devil You Know Than The One You Don't"

by Fuzzy_Carpet



Category: Spider-Man (Movies - Raimi)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Ficlet, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mildly Dubious Consent, One Shot, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-07
Updated: 2014-08-07
Packaged: 2018-02-12 03:42:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2094381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fuzzy_Carpet/pseuds/Fuzzy_Carpet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><em>It's a sloppy and complicated dance.</em>  Movie-verse.  Spoilers for SM1 and 2.</p>
            </blockquote>





	"Better The Devil You Know Than The One You Don't"

**Author's Note:**

> _Originally written for the Comment Fic-A-Thon[ _"Porn Battle 12: The Dirty Dozen"_](http://oxoniensis.dreamwidth.org/40106.html?thread=6641834#cmt6641834), hosted by **oxoniensis**_.  _What follows differs a bit  from the original Dreamwidth entry, since I always wind up second- and third-guessing EVERY SINGLE THING I manage to come up with long after the story has already been posted. *sigh*  More plot and angst here than smut, alas -- but that's how I roll._

 

 

_"What is Love but the Demon inside  
 or is it an Angel, with play on his mind?"   ---   Unknown _

 

 

 

* * * * * ** _  
_**

 

 

It's well-past midnight when Harry shows up at Peter's door, grinning ear-to-ear in a way that could only mean he was up to something, what with a bag of Chinese take-out in one hand and a six-pack of Tsing Tao dangling from the other.  He doesn't seem to notice that Peter's new apartment is a dump, or that his friend was sporting a bad case of bed-head; only that he wanted to celebrate his good fortune with somebody, "before the sesame noodles turn to glue."

Harry rambles on and on about Oscorp between bites, about alternative energy and saving the planet and how he was finally going to redeem himself.  Peter fumbles with his chopsticks as he listens, watching Harry draw odd shapes in the air with one finger, trying to be attentive despite the anxiety weighing on his mind.  He can't sleep, can't study; only lie in bed and worry when the next call to action might come.  Sitting still and making small talk just wasn't in Spider-Man's job description.

If only he could tell someone, anyone. But who?

Not Harry, of course.  _Never_ Harry.

Things between them are about as one-sided as they have ever been...and all Peter can do is smile and nod, telling himself that the bitterness stinging his throat is just malt and hops.

Something about _tritium_ catches his attention, but only briefly.  Peter isn't even sure he heard him right.  The details are hard to pick out now, the excited jumble of Harry's words like so much street noise in the background.  A second beer starts to give Peter ideas, and as his resolve loosens its grip on his judgment he contemplates what a confession might sound like between each suck from the bottle, each wet slurp of a dumpling.

_I'm Spider-Man.  I'm Spiderman.  I'm..._

What tumbles out instead is, "I'm tired."

"Oh."  Harry slumps his shoulders, the wind taken out of his sails.

Peter grimaces.  "Hey. I didn't mean it that way."  He reaches across the tiny table to cover Harry's stilled hand with one of his own.  "I'm happy for you, buddy.  Really.  It's just that...well, it's late...and if I miss another front-page deadline, Jameson is gonna demote me to the mail room.  You know?"

He knew in an instant that it was the wrong excuse.

"I see."  Harry's hand balls into a fist before tearing itself free.  "So...what did your meal ticket do this time?  Help a troop of Girl Scouts cross Bushwick Avenue?"

Peter shakes his head, looks away.

"You still won't tell me how to find him...will you?"

"I can't."  Back to square one.

"Not good enough!"  Harry shouts, slamming his fist against the table.  "You are the _only_ person in this whole damn city who can help me put my father's soul to rest, and you won't do it!"  His look is pained, on the verge of tears, and in a tight voice he asks, "Why?  Why are you doing this to me?"

"Please, Harry," Peter begs him, clutching his forehead in a desperate attempt to stave off the weaker part of his nature, the part that wants to give up and give in so that life could go back to the way it used to be.  As if such a thing were even possible now.  "Don't make this any harder on me than it already is."

"You act like this is all about you.  Well, guess what?  It _isn't._ "  Harry spins out of his chair, its legs scraping loudly against the worn linoleum floor.  "It never was."

 _It can't end like this,_ Peter thinks.  _It can't._ "Harry, _wait--"_

But Harry was already at the door, his hand closing over the knob.  "Forget it.  Sorry to have _bothered_ you, pal."

 _"I said STOP!"_ Peter closes the distance between them with blinding speed, grabbing Harry by the shoulder and tossing him aside.  The force is strong enough to send Harry's body flying across the room, missing the bed by a hair and landing flat on his back upon the floor with a heavy thud.

Peter's heart stopped.  _Oh my God..._

The shock at what a sudden flare of superhuman temper could do was cancelled out by the sight of Harry, dumbstruck and staring at the tarnished brass knob still clenched tightly in his grasp.  He starts laughing, then coughing, a bloody tinge now crawling up his throat to his cheeks, his whole body shuddering from the attempt at catching his breath.

"Fucking...doorknob!" Harry gasps out.  "What a... _shithole!"_ Tears started to gather in the corners of his eyes, and he reaches out to Peter with his other arm.  "Help...help me up, you _bastard._ Think I might have...my back...can't breathe---"

A mixture of fear and relief spurs Peter into action, and he moves on shaky legs to help his friend without saying a word.

_Thank God.  Thank God he's not dead...or paralyzed...or worse..._

One of Harry's legs unexpectedly slides out just as Peter leans over, tripping up his would-be rescuer at the right moment so that Peter drops down hard on one knee.  Before he can recover Harry rolls onto his side, leveraging his weight and height to gain the upper hand, flipping them both over in one deft move and bracing the whole of his trembling body forcefully against Peter's own.

Something cold and sharp was pressing against Peter's neck.  It was the broken doorknob, turned screw-end out.  A weapon.

Alcohol or no, Peter should have expected it would come to blows one day.

"Anyone else...and I would have slit your throat by now," Harry warned, voice still raspy and strained.  They were nose to nose now, each close enough to share the others breath.   "Give me a reason why I shouldn't," he pants, the tip of the long screw moving ever so slightly forward.

"Do it, " Peter replies, his words choked with emotion.  Any semblance of a friendship was now in tatters.  What difference would a little bloodletting make?

He swallows hard.  "If this is the only way to make things right between us...then just do it."

Harry's breathing slows, evens out to match the thrum of his pulse.  "That's what I thought you'd say."  His grip tightens, dark eyes searching for something in Peter's own...and that's when Peter can't look at him anymore.  He closes his own eyes, and waits...

...and waits....

...for warm lips to crush against his own.

Peter's eyes snap open at the contact, the sucking wetness of Harry's fevered and demanding mouth sending a rush of electric pleasure straight along his spine.  With great effort he manages to shove Harry away, and once he's safely at arm's length and breathing his own air Peter dares ask the obvious.  _"What are you doing?"_

This isn't what Harry wants.  It can't be.  He's flying high on a mixture of adrenaline and anger, loneliness and frustration, shot through with cheap beer and some MSG for good measure.  Deep down, he craves the same things that Peter does: love; desire; soft skin under his touch; a yielding body that he can slip inside of and get forever lost in.

He won't find any of that here.  But that doesn't discourage him from looking for it.

Harry answers by throwing the knob as far across the room as he can before kissing Peter again, his skillful tongue pushing forward to flicker against Peter's own.  There's no hesitation when his fingers reach inside Peter's fly, no second guessing as to how much pressure to apply to make Peter's cock jump in his grip.

Clothes are soon discarded, limbs entwined.  It's a sloppy and complicated dance, and Peter secretly hates the fact that they both know the steps by heart.

Harry is already hard and leaking, his erection quivering against Peter's thigh as he draws himself downward, his hungry mouth sucking at every inch of flesh he finds along the way.  He throws one of Peter's knees over his shoulder, desperate fingers searching for the secret place.  Peter moans his assent once he finds it.

"You won't send me away," Harry vows.  "Not tonight."

He's right, of course.  But the door gets fixed come morning.

 

 

 

_~finis~_

 


End file.
